Pat Metheny Orchestrion The guitar star brings this solo project to London next month, and it's an intriguing mix of technical-geekery (solo guitar, plus a whole road-band full of robot instruments controlled by the man himself) and classically breezy Metheny lyricism that sounds like a lot of Pat Metheny Group albums rolled into one. John Fordham

Village People YMCA I'm not saying it's not a double-entendre cheesefest, but the lines "I felt no man cared if I were alive/ I felt the whole world was so jive" are more desolate than you'd expect of a song apparently written to give people at office parties something to bark along to. Caroline Sullivan

Four Tet This Unfolds From the new album There Is Love in You, this delicate instrumental is pensive and beautiful, twinkling notes falling like raindrops over a slow yet funky beat and, in the distance, quiet moans. Unutterably lovely. Dave Simpson

Blur Death of a Party Watch the fantastic new Blur film, No Distance Left to Run, and you'll almost certainly be sent scuttling towards their back catalogue. This mesmerising, ­beat-driven highlight from 1997's Blur is just one of the half-forgotten treats awaiting you. Chris Salmon

June Tabor and the Oysterband All Tomorrow's Parties After watching their triumphant reunion at the fRoots anniversary festivities, I went home to search through the vinyl collection for the Freedom and Rain album they recorded together in 1990. It includes this intense, brooding treatment of the Lou Reed song – and still sounds brilliant. Robin Denselow

Hot Chip One Life StandHot Chip on the hunt for domestic bliss. Their trembling soft-touch electronica has never been safer, but when Alexis Taylor sings "Tell me do you stand by your man", the wonderful melodic bend on the chorus gets his sentiment right under my skin. Ready for the flooring section of Homebase. Tom Ewing

Miley Cyrus Party in the USA Does it matter that Miley Cyrus(pictured) doesn't care for Jay-Z or Britney, despite the references to them in this song? Course not. Not unless you're going to discount Teenage Lobotomy on the grounds that the Ramones were never actually lobotomised. This was the best single of last year, and one of a surprising number of solid gold hits in the Disney star's catalogue. Michael Hann